Chapter 6

It was Friday. The first Friday in their new school. Haley had been busy going to classes and tutoring Nathan. After school she did her homework and spend the rest of the night with Lucas at the garage working on the car. It was the only time when Haley saw Lucas. Every morning he had something to do and he was nowhere to be found during lunch. And neither was Brooke. Haley suspected that something was going on but since Lucas hadn't said anything she just assumed nothing was going on.

Jake had visited Lucas and Haley at the garage on Tuesday with Jenny. He had asked if they could babysit her while he went on his date with Peyton. He had called Peyton the minute he had gotten home from school on Tuesday. Haley and Lucas said yes and Jake was able to go on his date with Peyton. The two had been dating ever since that.

Things were great between Haley and Nathan. They ate lunch together with Peyton, Jake and Tim and they also met for their regular 7th hour tutoring sessions. They were always joking and sort or flirting with each other. They still didn't talk about personal stuff, mostly just about school.

Nathan and Lucas hadn't talked to each other since Tuesday when Haley made it clear that they had to stop their war and try and get to know each other. They both figured that if they avoided each other and didn't get into a fight, Haley would think that it was enough. They both also knew that it wasn't going to happen.

"Yo, Tutor Girl! How's it hanging!" Haley didn't have to take her eyes away from her books to know that it was Tim standing on the doorway. She was sitting in the tutoring center waiting for Nathan to get there.

"It's Haley." She said still not looking up from her books.

"Whatever. Is Nate-ster here?" Haley sighed.

"I don't know any Nate-ster but if you're referring to your best friend Nathan, then does it look like he's here?" Haley asked and looked up for the first time.

"So, whatcha reading?" he asked while sitting down opposite from Haley.

"Math. You know, the subject you have on your 3rd period, after P.E." Haley said sarcastically.

"I know what math is." He said annoyed. Haley was about to say something when the door opened.

"Nate-dawg!" Tim yelled happily.

"Just say- Ah nevermind. What are you doing here, Tim?" Nathan asked with a weird look on his face.

"Looking for you, mate. Coach wants to hold the tryouts next monday."

"Already? The season doesn't start in months!" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, well the tryouts are on monday so be ready." Tim said and got up.

"Bye, Hale-ster!" Tim said before leaving.

"It's Haley!" she yelled after him but he was gone already.

"What was that about?" Nathan asked while sitting down and taking his books out.

"Tim." Haley explained in one word. "So, did you finish the work sheet I gave you?"

"Yes. As always." He said and handed it to Haley who started to check it.

It was about 5 minutes before the end of the period when Nathan decided to reveal his big news.

"Oh, we had a pop quiz in math today." Nathan said like it was no big deal. Haley dropped the book from her hands and stared at Nathan. Nathan acted like he didn't notice her staring.

"And!" Haley finally asked.

"And what?" Nathan asked innocently.

"How did you do!" Haley raised her voice.

"I did fine." Nathan said smirking. He knew he was pissing off Haley. It was what he did best.

"Please don't say 'F' for fine." Haley said scared. Nathan took the folded piece of paper from his pocket and opened it.

"I did fine." Nathan just said looking at the paper. Haley held up her hand but when Nathan didn't hand the paper to her she got up from her chair went to stand next to Nathan.

"Give it to me." She finally said. She was starting to lose her patience. Nathan stood up infront of her and held the paper high in the air so Haley couldn't reach it.

"Or what?" Nathan said smirking. He loved to piss her off.

"Nathan..." Haley whined.

"Nathan..." Nathan mimicked her voice.

"Don't make me knee you." Haley finally said. Nathan quickly handed the paper to Haley. She opened it with trembling hands.

"81!" she yelled and hugged him while jumping up and down.

"Chill, girl. It's just a pop quiz." Nathan said. Haley stopped jumping.

"What? This is so much more than that! This is our first real proof that all of this hasn't been for nothing!" Haley said looking him in the eyes.

"I could've told you that." He said smiling. Nathan and Haley looked at each other in the eyes and for a moment Nathan thought Haley was gonna kiss him. Then Haley blinked and took a step back.

"Lemme see that quiz again." She mumbled while looking at the quiz. Nathan couldn't help but smile when he saw that Haley was blushing.

"So, what do you think?" he asked after a while. Haley was still looking at the quiz.

"Good job, Nathan. No, excellent job. This was a difficult quiz."

"You should've seen the teacher's face when I returned it. He was certain I had cheated even though I sit in the middle of the first row." Nathan said smiling.

"Did he believe you?" Haley asked.

"Not at first." Nathan said.

"How did you convince him?" Haley asked.

"I told him you were tutoring me." Nathan said. Haley looked at him with a surprised look.

"Wow." She just said.

"Yeah, but now I owe you." Nathan said.

"What? I'm your tutor. You don't owe me anything." Haley said. "Except your beach house." She added laughing.

"Well, I'm throwing a party there tomorrow night."

"Again?" Haley asked.

"Yeah. It's a "Start of the school year" –party. You should come." Nathan said. Haley looked down at her books on the table.

"I can't." She said while avoiding his gaze.

"Why?" he asked disappointed.

"I gotta study." Haley said quickly.

"On a Saturday night?" Nathan asked in a disbelieving voice.

"Yeah." She said. They both knew she was lying.

"What's going on?" Nathan asked. Haley looked at him and was about to answer when the bell rang.

"Like I said, I gotta study. See you on Monday." She said before storming off the class room leaving a disappointed and a confused Nathan sitting by himself.

"Haley!" Haley turned to see Lucas running after her.

"Luke! It's you." Haley said sighing in relief. Lucas looked at her confused.

"Who did you think it would be?"

"Oh, nobody. I was just surprised to see you. I usually don't see you at school at all. So, what's up?" Haley asked.

"Nothing, just wanted to ask you if you needed a ride." Haley looked at him smiling.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I do." She said and they started to walk towards his car.

"I know I haven't been spending much time with you and I'm sorry about that." Lucas said after a minute of silence.

"It's ok. It's senior year. I understand." Haley said quietly.

"Well, at least we'll get to hang out now, right?" Lucas said and wrapped his arm around Haley's shoulder. Haley smiled a little. "Hey, how about we hang out tonight?" Lucas asked. Haley turned to look at him surprised.

"Ok. How about a pizza and a movie?" Haley asked.

"Sounds good." He said when they got to his car. Haley was about to get inside when she saw Jake walking towards his car.

"Yo, Jake! Pizza and a movie at my place tonight. You in?"

"Got a date with Peyton." Jake yelled.

"Oh, do you need a... babysitter?" Haley whispered the last word. Nobody still knew about Jake's daughter and he liked to keep it that way.

"No, my parents are handling it. Thanks anyways."

"No problem. Talk to ya later." She said and got inside of Lucas' car.

"Guess it's just you and me." Lucas said.

"Just like old times." Haley said.

"Feels good, huh?" he said and they both smiled.

Next morning:

Haley woke up early. She and Lucas had a fun night. They ate some pizza and watched a few movies. It did feel like old times even though Lucas excused himself to the bathroom every 15 minutes. Few times Haley could've sworn she heard him talking to someone. Lucas finally left around 10 so Haley went to bed early.

Haley checked her watch and saw that it was only 8 am. Plenty of time for a run before her 11 am shift at the cafe. She ate some breakfast, changed her clothes and grabbed her iPod before heading out. She thought about asking Lucas but she figured he was probably still sleeping. She put her headphones on and started on the familiar route she'd run all these years.

Meanwhile in West side.

Nathan woke up early. Not by his own free will but by the shrilling sound of his cell phone. He checked the screen and groaned when he saw a blinking "Devil calling" on the screen. He flipped the phone open.

"What do you want, dad?"

"I'm at work. I need you to bring me some papers."

"It's Saturday morning, dad." Nathan said with a tired voice.

"There's a blue folder on my desk." Dan said ignoring his son's comment. "Bring it here. Now." he said and hung up. Nathan threw the phone angrily across the room. Luckily it fell on some clothes and didn't break. Nathan groaned and forced himself to get up from his bed.

He pretty much hated his dad. He was always pushing Nathan to be a better athlete, a better son. His mom was gone for business trips most of the weeks of the month and when she was home, she was too blind to see what was happening with Dan. Nathan got dressed and went to his dad's study. He found the folder and went into his car.

He was listening to loud rap not really paying attention to his surroundings. He knew the streets like the back of his hands. Besides, it was 8 am on a Saturday morning. The streets were empty. He got to his dad's dealership, dropped off the folder and started to drive back to his house in order to get some sleep.

He started to look for a CD that he remembered he had somewhere in the car. He found it but managed to drop it on the floor. He looked down to pick it up and when he looked back at the street, he saw a dark figure on the road ahead of him. The person was going to run right in front of his car. He hit the brakes and watched in horror as the car got closer to the person. The person turned around and froze. The car stopped.

Haley took her hood and her headphones off and watched in horror at the front of the car that was only three inches from her shaking body. Then she looked at the driver. It was Nathan. They both just stared at each other in shock. Haley was still shaking and Nathan was gripping the wheel so hard his knuckles were white. He forced himself to get out of his car and make sure Haley (and his car) were alright.

"Umh, are you ok?" Nathan asked with a shaking voice while getting out of the car.

Haley didn't answer, just stared at Nathan with wide eyes.

"Haley?" Nathan asked again and touched her shoulder. That seemed to snap her out of her daze. First she was shocked, then relieved and finally angry.

"What the fuck was that! Are you trying to kill me or are you just blind! You just almost fucking ran over me!" Haley screamed.

"What the hell were you doing running across the street like that?" Nathan yelled back.

"Don't you look around when you drive!"

"Don't you look around when you run!" Nathan yelled back. They fell silent and stared at each other both just starting to realize how bad the situation could've been.

"Are you ok?" Nathan asked concerned.

"Yeah, you?" Haley asked with a shaking voice.

"Yeah." Nathan said. Haley suddenly realized that she could've died a moment ago. She could feel her knees giving in and she had trouble breathing.

"I need to sit down." she mumbled and slowly sat down on the ground while leaning on the front of the car. Nathan sat down next to her and looked at her concerned.

"You sure you're ok? You look pale."

"I almost died." Haley whispered in horror.

"I'm so sorry. First minute the street was empty and the next you were there. I didn't see you, I really didn't." Nathan panicked.

"It's ok. I didn't look around at all. I was so caught up with the music and I didn't really expect anyone to be here at this time of the day." Haley said.

They sat there in silence for a while, both taking deep breaths.

"Do you want a ride home?" Nathan suddenly asked. Haley looked at him surprised. She didn't see that one coming.

"Umh, yeah sure, why not. I don't think I'm gonna be able to run for a while." She said. "Or breathe." She mumbled when he helped her up and they got inside the car.

"Nice car." she mumbled. She was about to sit down when she noticed her basketball on the passenger seat. "My ball!" she said excited and grabbed it. She had totally forgot about her missing ball. Nathan smiled when he saw Haley hugging her basketball.

"So, where to?" Nathan asked.

"You know where Arlington Square is?" Haley asked.

"Yeah, it's close to the old elementary school, right?"

"Yeah, just drive there and I'll tell you where to go from there."

"Sure." they drove for a while in silence.

"Do you run often?" Nathan asked.

"Luke and I used to go for a run about 4 times a week. Gotta stay fit for soccer. But lately he's been really busy with something so it's been just me."

"I could go for a run with you." Nathan said. Haley turned to look at him surprised.

"Really? That'd be great." She said.

"Cool. So, you play soccer?"

"Yeah, I'm on the school varsity. Was on the varsity. I don't know what the hell's gonna happen now when the schools are united." Haley said.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Nathan said thinking about the basketball team. Haley turned to look at him.

"You shouldn't worry about making the team. There's no way they're not letting you play." Haley said.

"Thanks. Do you play basketball? I saw you at Rivercourt. You were pretty good."

"Thanks. But no, I don't play ball. It's just something I do with the guys. Besides, the girls at soccer team are enough for me to handle." she said smiling.

"Why do you only hang out with guys?" Nathan asked.

"I don't know. Lucas has been my best friend since I was eight. He introduced me to the guys and I started hanging out with them. Guys are just so much easier to be friends with. No drama." she explained.

"I agree." Nathan said and they both started laughing. "So, what position?" he suudenly asked.

"What!"

"...do you play?" Nathan finished his question and smirked when he saw Haley blushing.

"Oh, I thought you- Umh, midfield." She stuttered.

"Cool." he said still smirking. They fell into a silence again.

"So, second week of school is starting." Haley said after a while.

"Yeah, can't wait." he said sarcastically.

"Hey, at least we're seniors." she said.

"Yeah, at least. The only thing I really care about is basketball." he said.

"That can't be true. You have your friends, your family, school… There are more important things than basketball." Haley said.

"Not according to my dad." Nathan said bitterly. "Basketball was his life so now it's my life." he said quietly.

"Is your dad the only reason you play?" Haley asked.

"No, I really do love the game. I just hope..." Nathan mumbled.

"Hope what?" Haley asked.

"I just hope he would leave me alone and just let me play. Instead of always pushing me to be better and complaining that I'm not good enough." he said quietly.

"Is your dad dense? You average like 25 points a game!" Haley exclaimed. Nathan turned to look at her with that famous smirk.

"26. And how did you know that?" he asked smiling. Haley blushed.

"Just a guess." she said and blushed even harder when Nathan looked at her disbelievingly.

"Sure…" he said and grinned.

"So, I read the articles about you on newspapers. No big deal." Haley said quickly.

"It is to me." he said seriously. They both fell silent again. "We're here." Nathan said when they got to Arlington Square.

"Take a left here." she said. Nathan turned left. Nathan looked around.

"Nice neighbourhood." he said sincerely.

"Thanks. Take a right here." she said and he turned right. "It's the fourth house one the left."

"The one with the red door?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah." she said. Nathan pulled over and parked the car.

"Nice house." he said while looking at it.

"Yeah, right." she said remembering the size of his beach house.

"No, I do mean it. It's like twice the size of your neighbours'." Nathan said.

"Well, I have a big family." Haley said.

"Lots of brothers and sisters?" Nathan asked a little jealous. He had always hoped for a brother or a sister.

"Yep." Haley said.

"Sometimes I wish I had a brother or a sister."

"You do. Lucas." Haley said.

"Whatever." Nathan said and then decided to change the subject back to Haley. "Are you the youngest or oldest or somewhere in the middle?"

"I'm the youngest one. The only one who still lives home." Haley said and sighed.

"You lonely?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah. Normally I like the silence but it gets boring pretty fast." Haley whispered.

"But your parents are there, right?"

"They just bought an RV and are planning on driving all around the country, visiting my siblings for the most of the fall. They're still in Chicago with my sister and after that they're gonna visit the rest of the family. They would've left for the summer but didn't wanna leave me alone. Now when school's started they figured that since I'm a senior, I'm going to be so busy with school, work, getting ready for soccer, et cetera, that I won't even notice them gone." Haley said quietly while looking at her hands.

"But you do."

"Yeah." Haley said quietly.

"I'm sorry." Nathan said sincerely.

"No problem. I love my family and they love me. That's all I need. Besides there are certain advantages of having your parents never around." Haley said smiling. "Even though I live alone most of the time there's always something happening in the house. A movie night, a wild party or just hanging out with the guys."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. We're always hanging out at my beach house on the weekends. My dad doesn't care and mom's never around so we can do pretty much whatever we want to."

"Cool." Haley said. There was a short silence again.

Nathan looked at Haley for a moment. "You should come to the party tonight." Haley turned to look at him.

"Nathan-"

"And don't lie and say you gotta study. You always study."

"I just don't think it's a good idea." Haley said quietly.

"Why? It'll be fun. Peyton and Jake are coming. Brooke is coming and accorgind to her so is Lucas. You should come too."

"I really don't think I should."

"Why? Just tell me one good reason." Nathan said.

"You want a reason? Because last time I was at your party I ended up being miserable." She said and Nathan looked at her guiltily. Haley continued before he could say anything. "We're finally getting along and tutoring is going great. I don't wanna risk that."

"Haley, I was a jackass then."

"That was one week ago!"

"I know but it feels like so much more. I've literally learnt more this week than I have in my entire life and that's all thanks to you."

"No, you did it all. I was just there to help you help yourself." Haley said.

"I promise you tonight is gonna be different. And we did have fun at the beginning of my last party, right?" Nathan said.

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts. Except yours tonight at my beach house." Nathan said and winked. Haley started to laugh.

"Fine. I'll come. But I'm gonna be wearing your sweatshirt for the entire night so everyone will know I'm hanging out with you." Haley said laughing.

"Better yet, you can keep it. Like I said, it looks better on you anyway." He said grinning. Haley smiled and they both looked at each other for a while.

"I should go." Haley started. She didn't wanna leave but she was afraid that if she stayed one more minute, she might kiss him.

"Yeah, me too. Besides, I'll see you tonight!" Nathan said.

"Bye Nathan." Haley said and got out of the car. Nathan opened his car window.

"Haley! Thanks for…you know, listening and all." Nathan said and smiled. Haley leaned on the car and smiled back.

"No problem. See you soon." she said before turning around. Nathan watched her walk towards her front door wearing that huge Keith's Auto Shop sweatshirt and holding her basketball and iPod on her hands. She opened the door and was about to go inside when she turned around to look at Nathan. She waived and smiled at him before disappearing inside the house. Nathan sat in the car a big grin on his face. He reversed from the driveway and paused for a second to look at his left.

"What the hell happened to her mailbox?"

So, what do you think? What's good? What's bad? What would you change? Thanks you so much for all the great reviews! Means the world to me! In 50 Cent's words: "I love you like a fat kid love cake." :)

-Fes-